I. The Next Phase of Trust, Compliance, and Cross-Border Payments in Vietnam (2026–2027)

Vietnam’s New Financial Trends: Legal Foundations for Digital Trust

The period from 2026 to 2027 marks a structural shift in Vietnam’s journey toward a regulated digital economy. According to e-Conomy SEA 2024, Vietnam’s digital economy reached $36 billion in 2024 and is projected to hit $50 billion by the end of 2026. This growth is underpinned by the Digital Technology Industry Law (DTI Law), effective January 1, 2026, which formally recognizes digital assets as property, providing a clear legal basis for an estimated $220 billion in annual digital asset inflows (Bảo Bình, 2025).

A Turning Point in Vietnam’s Cross-Border Payment Landscape

While Vietnam's digital payment value is forecasted to reach $133.35 billion in 2026, the traditional backend for international transfers remains fragmented. As the country's total import-export turnover approaches the $900 billion milestone, the demand for "Infrastructure-Led" innovation has surpassed "Consumer-Led" growth.

Why Infrastructure Matters Now:

• Cost Efficiency: Current cross-border fees average 5–7%. Web3-based settlement rails aim to reduce this to under 2%.
• Volume Pressure: With remittances expected to exceed $16 billion in 2025, licensed institutions require automated liquidity management.
• Speed: Transitioning from T+3 settlement to near real-time (T+0) (subject to compliance checks) via tokenized value transfer.

However, as Vietnam’s economy becomes increasingly integrated with global trade, labor mobility, and digital services, cross-border payments are approaching a new inflection point. While fintech has optimized the front end of payments, structural challenges around settlement speed, cost transparency, and regulatory complexity remain.

In the next 1–2 years, Web3-related infrastructure—particularly blockchain-based settlement and tokenized value transfer—may begin to influence how trust and compliance are implemented, even if end users never directly interact with digital assets.

Why the Next Phase Is Infrastructure-Led, Not Consumer-Led

Unlike earlier fintech waves centered on consumer-facing products, the next stage of cross-border payment evolution in Vietnam is fundamentally infrastructure-driven. Payment providers and financial institutions are increasingly focused on improving settlement efficiency, liquidity management, real-time transaction visibility, and automated compliance processes.

In this context, Web3 technologies and blockchain are not positioned as disruptive consumer innovations, but as enabling infrastructure layers. Their value lies in optimizing inter-institution value flows rather than reshaping the user interface of financial services.

The challenge is no longer access—it is efficiency, transparency, and compliance at scale. Unlike earlier fintech waves that focused on consumer-facing innovation, the next phase of cross-border payments in Vietnam is likely to be infrastructure-driven.

Rather than launching new consumer products, payment providers are increasingly exploring:

• Faster settlement mechanisms
• Improved liquidity management
• Real-time transaction visibility
• Automated compliance processes

This is where Web3-related technologies enter the conversation; not as speculative tools, but as back-end infrastructure.

Web3 in Vietnam: What Changes and What Remains the Same

In 2026, Web3 is no longer synonymous with speculation. Vietnam consistently ranks in the Top 4 globally on the Global Crypto Adoption Index, with approximately 18 million citizens (18% of the population) holding digital assets (Quek et al., 2025).

In Vietnam’s regulatory environment, the adoption of Web3 in cross-border payments over the next one to two years is expected to be selective and tightly controlled. Potential changes include the use of blockchain-based settlement rails for transactions between payment infrastructure providers and sandbox participants, the application of fiat-backed stable-value instruments for internal reconciliation and liquidity management, and enhanced transparency in transaction tracking among counterparties.

At the same time, the core pillars of the financial system remain unchanged. Licensed financial institutions continue to play a central role, and strict requirements around KYC, AML, foreign exchange controls, and regulatory reporting remain fully in force. Web3 does not replace existing institutions or regulatory oversight; it augments current systems with more efficient and verifiable settlement mechanisms.

Redefining Trust in Cross-Border Payments

Historically, trust in cross-border payments has been derived from institutional reputation, regulatory licensing, and manual reconciliation processes. In the next phase, trust is increasingly embedded in system architecture itself. Verifiable transaction records, real-time settlement visibility, and rule-based automated execution are becoming core components of payment trust.

For Vietnamese payment providers, this shift means that credibility is no longer built solely on brand or market presence, but also on the robustness, transparency, and auditability of their underlying infrastructure.

Compliance by Design: The Center of Gravity in Vietnam’s Payment Evolution

Any evolution of cross-border payment infrastructure in Vietnam remains firmly compliance-first. As regulatory scrutiny around anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing, and foreign exchange management intensifies, competitive advantage shifts away from speed alone toward regulatory alignment and operational resilience.

“Compliance by design” is emerging as a defining principle, where regulatory requirements are embedded directly into technology stacks and enforced automatically rather than through manual, post-transaction controls. This approach reduces operational risk while enabling scalable and sustainable growth.

For fintech and payment companies operating in Vietnam, the 2026–2027 period calls for strategic recalibration. Modernizing back-end infrastructure, collaborating closely with licensed banks and regulated partners, and strengthening internal risk and compliance capabilities will be critical priorities.

Rather than positioning themselves as Web3-native firms, many fintech companies are likely to act as integrators and translators, bridging traditional financial systems with next-generation infrastructure in a way that aligns with Vietnam’s evolving regulatory framework.

II. The 2026–2027 Outlook for Vietnam

Over the next one to two years, Vietnam’s cross-border payment landscape is likely to see controlled experimentation with blockchain-enabled inter-institution settlement, increased use of stable-value instruments for internal reconciliation, and clearer, more consistent regulatory guidance from authorities. Collaboration among banks, fintech firms, and infrastructure providers will become increasingly central to this evolution.

For end users, most of these changes will remain largely invisible. The tangible impact will be faster transfers, improved transparency, and reduced friction, without direct exposure to the underlying technologies.

III. CONCLUSION: Evolution, Not Disruption

The future of cross-border payments in Vietnam is not defined by a sudden shift from fintech to Web3, but by a measured evolution driven by infrastructure efficiency, regulatory clarity, and the need for trust at scale. In this next phase, the most impactful innovations will be the least visible, operating quietly beneath the surface to make international payments faster, safer, and more reliable.

Disclaimer: This article is for industry insight purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or cryptocurrency services. FinFan does not provide crypto trading or DeFi services.

References:

Quek, G., Papon Charoenpao, P., & Nguyen, T.-N. (2025, October 13). Vietnam formally recognises digital assets under new law. Chambers and Partners. https://chambers.com/articles/vietnam-formally-recognises-digital-assets-under-new-law

Bảo Bình. (2025, October 3). Việt Nam ghi nhận dòng vốn tài sản mã hóa vượt 220 tỷ USD trong năm 2025, tăng 55%. VnEconomy. https://vneconomy.vn/techconnect/viet-nam-ghi-nhan-dong-von-tai-san-ma-hoa-vuot-220-ty-usd-trong-nam-2025-tang-55.htm

Ministry of Finance of Vietnam. (2025, July 25). Law on Digital Technology Industry: Legal foundations and strategic incentives to accelerate national digital transformation. Ministry of Finance of Vietnam. https://mof.gov.vn/ebtc/financial-sectors-modernization/law-on-digital-technology-industry-legal-foundations-and-strategic-incentives-to-accelerate-national-digital-transformation